Jerry Brown on the dilemma of the cities

Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown is enjoying the new experience of married life.  At least he was as of the fourth day of it, when he posted on his blog, "Bliss endures."

He has just been in Los Angeles at the inauguration of the new LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigorosa.  Brown says he was there along with "such luminaries as Jesse Jackson, David Hasselhoff, Warren Christopher and Cardinal Roger Mahoney."

The liberal Democratic Villaigorosa in his speech "hammered away on his four main themes: crime, schools, traffic and environment." (LA Inaugural 07/04/05)

Brown writes (my emphasis):

Undoubtedly, Mayor Villaraigosa will soon hire more cops and persuade the leadership of L.A’s schools to make improvements in the learning environment that now leaves so many behind. Nevertheless, dramatic improvements on both fronts will be held hostage to our national policy of neglect at home in favor of over-extension abroad.

As the Bush presidency winds down, mayors in every major city will have a unique opportunity to increase their presence on the national stage. They directly witness the deteriorating quality of life in urban America and can help re-energize a domestic agenda, emphasizing investments in those places left behind in the grand march of globalization.

With respect to transportation and the environment, much of the solution lies at the state and national levels. Here is where the funds are to support public transit, clean fuels and road improvements we desperately need. Certainly cities can do much on the environmental front. Yet, with China and India building hundreds of new coal plants and Bush denying Global Warming, big changes will have to occur in Washington before we make lasting progress.

I love that, "As the Bush presidency winds down."